As Women’s History Month draws to a close, women in Congress are reviving efforts to move the web-based National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) to an actual building site along the National Mall in Washington, DC.
“We’re half the population. Why can’t we get a museum of our own?” Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) said earlier this month. Lawmakers and NWHM President Susan Jollie have been working for years to bring a museum to Washington that is dedicated to women’s history. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) first introduced a bill in 2003 and again in 2005 to approve leasing a federally owned building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate, but failed to make it out of House subcommittees. Proponents now see possible allies in the new leaders on Capitol Hill — including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and General Services Administration head Lurita Doan, who supported a women’s history museum during Senate confirmation hearings last year. A spokesperson for Sen. Collins has announced that the Maine senator intends to reintroduce the bill this session, Women’s eNews reports.
The cyber museum features content about everything from the woman suffrage movement to women Olympians. Galleries include photographs of people, events, and artifacts presented alongside in-depth descriptions and links to official documents and educational resources. If the bill passes, this information will be available within 100,000 square feet of exhibits, a research center, and upgraded online exhibits. The project would take five to seven years to complete and cost $150 million.
